Rokossovsky's troops, resting for less than a week in the newly occupied area, received a call from Zhukov: "Hey, Rokossovsky, when will your troops relaunch the offensive against the Germans?" ”

Rokossovsky's words puzzled Rokossovsky, and he asked rhetorically: "Georgy Konstantinovich, now is not the best time to attack. We www.biquge.info have far fewer tanks and artillery than the Germans, and the air supremacy on the battlefield is still in the hands of the Germans......"

"Alright, Rokossovsky, don't say any more." Zhukov unceremoniously interrupted what he was after: "Do you remember what the purpose of our offensive was in the Zhizdra region? ”

After Zhukov's reminder, Rokossovsky suddenly remembered that the reason why the General Staff wanted to launch an offensive in the Zhizdra area at the beginning could not be for two purposes: first, to contain the German forces in the north, so that they could not attack the Volkhov Front with all their strength, and ensure that the 2nd Shock Army could successfully get out of danger; The second was to cooperate with the offensive of the Southwestern Front and the Southern Front in Kharkov, so that the Germans could not draw forces from the central sector to strengthen their defenses in the Kharkov direction.

The 2nd Shock Army can not be considered, sooner or later they will be hit hard; And in Kharkov at this moment, the situation should be developing in a direction unfavorable to the Soviet army. Thinking of this, Rokossovsky asked tentatively: "Comrade commander, is there any change in the situation on the Kharkov side?" ”

"You guessed it." Zhukov affirmed: "The Southwestern Front and the Southern Front are experiencing unprecedented difficulties, so we need to take immediate and decisive action to relieve their pressure." ”

"Comrade General," Rokossovsky asked cautiously, "can you give me a brief description of the specifics of the Kharkov direction?" ”

"The 1st Panzer Army, commanded by Kleist, with massive air support from the Air Force, launched an offensive against the unprepared 9th and 57th armies of our army. At the same time, the Germans also launched counter-assaults on the two flanks of our 8th Army from the north and south. Zhukov said anxiously: "I hope that our offensive will attract a part of the attention of the Germans and ensure that Marshal Timoshenko will be able to reverse the unfavorable situation." ”

Rokossovsky waited for Zhukov to finish speaking, then was silent for a moment, and then asked: "Comrade General, I would like to know, which troops will participate in this offensive, and how much artillery and tank support we will get?" ”

"This offensive will be carried out by your army group and the 10th and 61st armies on the left and right flanks at the same time, and you will not be supported by additional artillery regiments and tank brigades in addition to being supplemented by 5,000 troops." When Zhukov said this, he heard Rokossovsky sigh softly, and hurriedly added: "Although the front of the offensive is wider than last time, and the number of tanks and artillery has not increased, the number of aviation participating in the battle will be greatly increased this time." As long as we have air supremacy on the battlefield, the German armored forces will not be worried.

I'll give you three days, and you must make all preparations for battle during this time. Do you understand? ”

Without the support of new tanks and artillery, they can only rely on existing forces to deal with the enemy. The thought of the performance of the 12th tank army in the last battle gave Rokossovsky a headache. After he put down the phone, he asked Malinin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, we will soon launch a new round of offensive, I wonder if the current state of the 12th Tank Army is stable?" ”

"Comrade Commander, don't worry about that." Without waiting for Malinin to speak, Lobachev hurriedly said: "I went to the tank army and talked to those tankmen, most of them were bombed by the Germans for the first time in battle. The enemy's bombardment looked terrifying, with fire, smoke and dust everywhere, and most of the vehicles had no radios, so ordinary tank crews could not see the signals sent by the command tanks, so they fell into confusion. After a few days of rest, the situation of the troops has changed considerably, and I believe that they will not make similar mistakes again when they go into battle again. ”

After Rokossovsky waited for Lobachev to finish speaking, he immediately instructed Malinin: "Call Orlov and the two tank commanders, let's rush here immediately, we are going to hold an urgent military meeting." ”

"Urgent military meeting?!" When Malinin heard Rokossovsky say this, his eyes suddenly lit up: "Comrade commander, is it to discuss the operational plan of how to attack Bryansk?" ”

"That's right, that's for it." Rokossovsky nodded and said: "I estimate that the higher authorities will give us two or three days at most to prepare, so we must work out the battle plan as soon as possible." ”

Less than half an hour later, the three army commanders arrived at the headquarters. Orlov had been dealing with Malinin for a long time, so as soon as he entered the door, he quietly pulled Malinin aside and asked in a low voice: "Comrade Chief of Staff, is there any important combat action in such a hurry to convene a military meeting?" ”

"You sit down first." Malinin gestured to the empty seat next to the conference table: "When the meeting starts, you will know." ”

When Rokossovsky finished presenting the upcoming offensive in the Bryansk direction, Orlov interjected and asked: "Comrade commander, I would like to ask, how many troops will our army be replenished in this offensive?" ”

"Comrade Zhukov is willing to replenish us with five thousand people." Rokossovsky looked at Orlov and said: "Of these five thousand people, I decided to replenish all of them to your troops." ”

"Great, that's great." When Orlov heard Rokossovsky say this, he was overjoyed: "In this way, each division can be divided into almost 2,000 people, which can greatly strengthen the strength of the troops." ”

"Comrade Commander, what about us?" Seeing that Orlov's infantry corps had been replenished with 5,000 men, the other two tank corps commanders were itching, and they couldn't wait to ask: "Then what kind of replenishment can our tank corps get, is it a soldier or a new type of tank?" ”

"Comrade two army commanders," Rokossovsky said apologetically, looking at the two, "because of this offensive, the front command will send a large number of aircraft to assist in the battle, so we are not replenished with artillery and tanks." ”

After listening to Rokossovsky's words, the faces of the two tank commanders were filled with expressions of disappointment. However, the two assured Rokossovsky: "Don't worry, Comrade Commander, the tank corps will definitely assist the infantry units in breaking through the defenses of the Germans in the Bryansk direction." ”